Where-ever I lay my hat

We arrived at John and Karen’s late afternoon and had a drink in the garden then just absorbed into the chaos. We had to get the caravan set up for us to sleep in and it was full of stuff and there were 2 visiting Labrador puppies to be walked and their bed organised and 5 collie puppies to be played with. Karen had got back from 15 nights straight work in England about 3 hours before we got there and there were guests in the cottage so all was chaos. Fortunately its comfortable chaos as we know the deal and can just let the excess chaos wash over us. The caravan was comfortable to sleep in and we had clean sheets and can have our own work schedule and good adult company.
On Thursday we got into the work. The cottage garden needs cleaned out and there’s lots of strimming to do, animals to be fed and of course all the puppies have to be played with regularly. We spent a while getting the 8 month old labs used to the 2 month old collies so they could all run round together and its hilarious to watch the huge labs whimpering when they get chased by a tiny collie. Its lovely to see the goats again and there are new baby goats too. It took us quite a bit of time to get the caravan moved to its intended new site and the awning set up. Having never been inside a caravan awning it was a bit of a mission to set up but we got there in the finish. The ground is too hard for the pegs to go into so we are going to have to use a drill to make holes in the ground! We also got a whole lot of nettles collected to make a nettle fertiliser for the garden and some of the garden weeded and watered. We pretty much worked all day but none of it was hard work and there were plenty of interruptions to play with baby animals. We had a really pleasant evening in the cottage garden with a couple of bottles of wine and chatting with Karen and John and friends of theirs and another of John’s homemade cheeses which was fantastic again. The sun doesn’t go down till about 10.30 so we are tending to stay up late because we’re outdoors.
Friday was ongoing chaos with puppies and one of the labs learned to chase a stick and the little puppies started trying too. Sam, the dad collie loves to play stick and whenever you throw the stick for him the whole 9 dogs start tearing round the yard yelping and chasing each other and trying to stop Sam from getting the stick back to you. Steve did lots of strimming and I did lots of feeding the animals and searching for eggs and a bit of weeding and hedge trimming. It was a very relaxed day but with plenty of unexpected interruptions like the chickens in the top field needing checking because the cockerel was very agitated and we think a fox had been by in the night. We also moved the buck goat up to the top field and later had to intervene between him and the ram who was not happy about having a new male in his territory. We had a pleasant dinner out in the cottage garden and sat around having a few drinks till it was nearly dark then did end of day chores of walking the labs, closing up and feeding animals again.
On Saturday amid the ongoing chaos, Steve strimmed the front lawn and I raked up the grass so Karen and I could set up the eight-man tent. That took a wee while with lots of help from puppies, but we got it done and found mattresses and beds and some kitchen bits to kit out the caravan. Steve found a couple of snakes while strimming the car park area, which added a bit of excitement, one of them got turned into worms by the strimmer. I went up to the top field to get some eggs and check on the state of warfare between goat and ram and somehow got stuck between the two of them both wanting my undivided attention. Although they weren’t aggressive to me they certainly were to each other and there was one on either side of me. It was actually pretty frightening and I decided it wasn’t smart to go up there on my own any more. The crying from this great big ferocious buck was quite pitiful as he is just really lonely and particularly if he hears Karen’s voice he cries like a baby.
Sunday was our day off and after feeding animals very slowly and playing with them lots we just chilled out. In the afternoon we all left eventually got on the road to St Suzanne to go to the jousting but it was much more expensive than we had thought so we decided not to. We cam back to the house and got my painting things and went and painted the wind in the willows scene from below the chateau. Then we had a stroll around the village below St Suzanne, which turned out to be a great decision as it was one of the most beautiful villages we have seen – kind of like the Cotswolds but French. There were even little huts beside the river for washing clothes. We picked the others from the jousting and it sounds like we didn’t miss much. We all went for a stroll around the cute village then and Karen thought it was the prettiest place she’d seen in France. We went home and got things for a picnic and went to the Gue de Selle by the lake for a big picnic dinner, which was very nice and relaxing.
Monday was back to regular chores and we moved the geese from the pig compound, which was an interesting experience. It involved me and Karen running around the enclosure trying to catch and herd geese while Steve guarded the gate and hoped the pigs kept eating their breakfast. Karen and I both got covered in mud and I also got a good face pack from geese flapping into the pigs wallow. However they got there in the end with actually a minimum of distress to them. We also let babe (the baby boar who likes to be tickled under his chin - that could be entertaining when he weighs most half of a ton!) out of the small enclosure he’s been in waiting for repairs to his last lot of damage, and he had a great time and even did a dance up on his hind legs because he was so happy. The weather had packed in a bit and in the afternoon it really rained and we had to retreat to the caravan. It still wasn’t pegged down properly because the ground was too hard and we needed a drill to get the pegs in. Unfortunately the rain didn’t soften the ground enough but everything and everyone stayed dry including the tent and the puppies, who shelter in the caravan awning whenever we are there or from the rain or sun. We let Spot the dog into the field while we were herding the goats to get them to bed and he turns out to be a natural and has really good instincts. It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen this tiny eight week old puppy herding the baby goats. It was even more funny because Spot didn’t quite understand what I wanted and he thought the goats should stay in the field so as fast as I could chase them out he chased them back in.
On Tuesday morning after animal feeding we went into Evron to check our email and look at the bookshop and get bread for lunch. We had a fairly quiet afternoon but got the holes drilled for the caravan awning pegs and finally got it firmly in place. Steve took Spot the dog up the top field with his dad, Sam (who is a great dog and really well behaved but a complete wimp when it comes to sheep). Boy, the ram headed for Steve and Sam sat behind Steve when told to stay here but Spot went and stood halfway between Boy and Steve and barked at him till he backed off and went away. We were really impressed, particularly because Boy is a huge ram and Spot is only about the size of his head. By the time the animals decide to put themselves to bed it is rather late so we got to bed late again. That’s also added to by very pleasant evenings sitting having dinner in the cottage garden and a couple of glasses of wine and just chatting. Its not quite as relaxing as it sounds because periodically pandemonium breaks out in the yard and we go to check what puppy is doing what to the kittens, dogs, geese, chickens or other puppies.
On Wednesday we finished off tidying the cottage garden and getting the tent finished so everything was ready for the new guests and WWOOFer. I built a stone wall inside the tent to try and stop the puppies getting in and using it as a playpen but that only means they just use the door instead of all sides. Then we started on the compound for the chickens in the bottom field and got all the holes drilled for the posts and two corner posts in the ground. We took the dogs for a walk after lunch and the smarter one was a brat all the way. Then we made a trip into Evron to get Karen some groceries, quickly check our email (to find out I have a job and Steve has been asked to apply for one) and pick up Vicki, the new WWOOFer. She is lovely and we spent a while orientating her. We took Spot the dog up to the top sheep again and this time he nearly got trodden on by Boy who decided to charge him. But then Boy ran for it and Spot took off after him so still won the day. What a brave little puppy! We had a nice BBQ dinner with Vicki and the guests and finally got a slightly earlier night.
Thursday morning we woke a bit early and got animals fed and had breakfast with Vicki then got to work on the chicken compound again. We got all the post in and the trench dug and then called it quits for the morning. Karen came out with coffee and cookies so we had a tea break to sustain us while we packed up until lunch half an hour later! We said our goodbyes and got on the road about 1.30. It had been really nice to see Karen and John again and also to be back at the same property two months later in the season and see how things had changed. It only took just over two hours to get up to the next farm near St Lo in Normandie. We were a bit anxious as we hadn’t heard back from them in a month but they were expecting us and the farm looks great.